Fans of golf and Golf Channel should be angry and disappointed if the network bows to the pressure of Tiger Woods and his agent to fire one of the best commentators in the game, Brandel Chamblee.

Woods and agent Mark Steinberg have not called for Chamblee’s ouster directly after he stirred up a controversy by writing in a Golf.com column that Woods had been “cavalier” with the rules during the PGA Tour season. But they’ve certainly implied that’s what they want to happen.

"All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward. But then, I don't know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not,” Woods said in China. “But then that's up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing, as he didn't really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation. So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do."

Steinberg said: "I'm all done talking about it, and it's now in the hands of the Golf Channel. That's Tiger's view and that's mine, and all we want to do is move forward. And whether the Golf Channel moves forward as well, then we'll have to wait and see."

So “moving forward” for the Golf Channel is firing Chamblee for something he wrote on another company’s website? That’s ridiculous. But, of course, Golf Channel has the highest profile on the tour of any entity in golf television, so Woods and Steinberg must feel like turning the screws on them accomplishes more. Even if Chamblee had said it on Golf Channel air, he still shouldn't be fired. He has a right to say what he believes as long as it's not slander -- and this clearly was not.

Chamblee is paid by whoever he is working for to offer his opinion. He has plenty of them, is extremely well-spoken, and runs against the grain of so many ex-players in golf who are afraid to anger their buddies. Fans should revere him for his insight.

Being called a cheater in golf is a scarlet letter, which is why Woods is so angry. But he’s defended himself very publicly, and now needs to move on and do his job, just as Chamblee did his.